Betty Barr talks about life in a camp in Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]

According to Davis, 500 grams of ground coffee costs $22.66 in Shanghai, compare to $14.52 in Manhattan. A $676.67 suit at the Big Apple would cost $1110.49 in Shanghai.

The marinara sauce is cheaper in Shanghai if made from scratch. A kilogram of tomatoes in Shanghai costs half the price in Manhattan.

"I found food and other living costs to be relatively cheap if I stuck with domestic products and ate at local restaurants, but any sort of craving for imported goods or international restaurants was usually pretty pricey," said Elizabeth Oppong of the US, who had worked in Shenzhen.

"I cut back on expensive habits like Starbucks and shopping at international stores," she told China Daily in an e-mail.

Travis Joern, an expat in Shanghai for the Canada China Business Council, said he tries to stick to local produce. "For foreign food products, you pay the premium for import duties, but for local food products it's quite affordable," Joern said in an e-mail.

All Chinese cities moved up in the rankings from the previous year. Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong were in the top 10 from last year's 12th, 13th, and 26th. Guangzhou went to 14th from 30th, and Shenzhen climbed 29 places to 16th from 45th.

Manhattan also saw a big jump—15th from 38th.

According to ECA, the strengthening of the US dollar between surveys saw cities across the US climb in the rankings. Miami rose 62 places to 71st.

"Despite prices in our basket of goods falling in some cities in the US, the strengthening of the US dollar means that it is becoming more expensive for companies to relocate staff into the States,"said Michael Witkowski, vice-president of ECA International New York.

Contact the writer through hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com